Musculoskeletal pain affects a significant proportion of the general population. The myofascial trigger point is recognized as a key factor in the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal pain. Ultrasound is commonly employed in the treatment and management of soft tissue pain and, in this study, we set out to investigate the segmental antinociceptive effect of ultrasound. Subjects (n=50) with identifiable myofascial trigger points in the supraspinatus, infraspinatus and gluteus medius muscles were selected from an outpatient rehabilitation clinic and randomly assigned to test or control groups. Test subjects received a therapeutic dose of ultrasound to the right supraspinatus trigger point while control groups received a sham (null) exposure. Baseline pain pressure threshold (PPT) readings were recorded at the ipsilateral infraspinatus and gluteus medius trigger-point sites prior to ultrasound exposure. The infraspinatus point was chosen due to its segmental neurologic link with the supraspinatus point; the gluteus medius acted as a segmental control point. Following the ultrasound intervention, PPT readings were recorded at 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 min intervals at both infraspinatus and gluteus medius trigger points; the difference between infraspinatus and gluteus medius PPT values, PPT seg, represents the segmental influence on the PPT. The ultrasound test group demonstrated statistically significant increases in PPT seg (decreased infraspinatus sensitivity) at 1, 3 and 5 min, when compared with PPT seg in the sham ultrasound group. These results establish that low-dose ultrasound evokes short-term segmental antinociceptive effects on trigger points which may have applications in the management of musculoskeletal pain.

Procedures for the production of a new and highly prolific embryogenic culture system have been developed in cassava. The importance of the basal salts and type of auxin in controlling the development of cassava embryogenic tissues has been demonstrated, with culture on Gresshoff and Doy basal medium in the presence of 4-amino-3,5,6,trichloro-picolinic acid (picloram) inducing the formation of friable embryogenic callus from which highly totipotent embryogenic suspension cultures could be established. Plants have been regenerated from these cultures. The availability of embryogenic suspension cultures is considered to have important implications for the application of genetic transformation and other biotechnologies in the agronomic improvement of cassava.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of enhanced whole-milk (WM) feeding systems in calves from birth to 8wk of age on subsequent first-lactation performance. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design consisting of 2 treatment groups. At birth, 152 Holstein heifer calves were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: (i) 4L of WM/d or (ii) 8L of WM/d. The calves were bucket fed 2 or 4L of WM twice daily at 0700 and 1600h. Each calf was housed individually in temperature-controlled nurseries and had ad libitum access to water and textured calf starter daily. Calves consumed greater volumes of textured calf starter when fed 4 versus 8L of WM/d. Water intakes mirrored starter intakes, leading to greater water consumption at weaning. Calves reared on 8L of WM/d were heavier at d 56 than calves reared on 4L of WM/d. The average daily gain of the calves offered 8L of WM/d from d 0 to 56 was greater than that of calves offered 4L of WM/d. Structural measurements were significantly greater for calves that consumed 8L of WM/d. The differences observed in withers height and live BW due to WM feeding level were not apparent by 3 and 12mo of age, respectively. Rumen pH was higher in calves that consumed 8L of WM/d than in calves that consumed 4L of WM/d. Whole-milk feeding level did not affect age at first calving or milk-production parameters. These results suggest that enhanced WM feeding improved growth performance until 3mo of age. However, first-lactation results indicated no lactation-performance benefits of increased nutrition and growth performance during the milk-fed period in dairy calves.

Selection for rapid growth has produced heavier, more efficient broiler chickens, but has also introduced health and welfare issues, which may cause or be caused by inactivity. Rapid growth may also limit the performance of motivated behaviors, whereas the provision of enrichment may increase these behaviors and general activity. This study aimed to evaluate the inactivity, behavior patterns, and enrichment use of 2 fast- ( CONV ) and 12 slower growing broiler strains (categorized as fastest [ FAST ], moderate [ MOD ], and slowest slow [ SLOW] ), based on their growth rates; 4 strains/category]. To evaluate inactivity, one male and one female from 153 pens were outfitted with omni-directional accelerometers from d 21 until processing (14–24 birds/strain from 8 to 12 pens/strain). Additionally, to supplement inactivity data, 5-min continuous behavioral observations of four focal birds per pen (2 males, 2 females) were conducted on days 26, 42, and 56 (72–148 observations of 8–12 pens/strain) to quantify the duration and frequency of various behaviors; at the same time, 5 to 11 instantaneous scan samples were also performed for pen-based enrichment use. Inactivity peaked at 78 to 80% of the day for all strains; however, those with slower growth rates reached these levels at older ages. Compared to slower growing strains at the same age, faster growing strains were more inactive, spent more time sitting and feeding, spent less time standing and walking, and used enrichments less; these differences mostly occurred at younger ages. Generally, at the same age, strains with similar growth rates (within the same category) behaved similarly, with only a few exceptions. Results suggest that not all strains identified as “slow-growing” broilers behave differently from fast-growing broilers, nor do they all behave similarly to each other. As such, results suggest that improved broiler welfare, particularly with respect to reduced inactivity, the performance of a wider range of normal, motivated behaviors, and/or increased enrichment use, is related to the broiler strain's specific growth rate.

To meet the growing consumer demand for chicken meat, the poultry industry has selected broiler chickens for increasing efficiency and breast yield. While this high productivity means affordable and consistent product, it has come at a cost to broiler welfare. There has been increasing advocacy and consumer pressure on primary breeders, producers, processors and retailers to improve the welfare of the billions of chickens processed annually. Several small-scale studies have reported better welfare outcomes for slower growing strains compared to fast growing, conventional strains. However, these studies often housed birds with range access or used strains with vastly different growth rates. Additionally, there may be traits other than growth, such as body conformation, that influence welfare. As the global poultry industries consider the implications of using slower growing strains, there was a need for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary examination of broiler chickens with a wide range of genotypes differing in growth rate and other phenotypic traits. To meet this need, our team designed a study to benchmark data on conventional and slower growing strains of broiler chickens reared in standardized laboratory conditions. Over a two-year period, we studied 7,528 broilers from 16 different genetic strains. In this paper, we compare the growth, efficiency and mortality of broilers to one of two target weights (TW): 2.1 kg (TW1) and 3.2 kg (TW2). We categorized strains by their growth rate to TW2 as conventional (CONV), fastest slow strains (FAST), moderate slow strains (MOD) and slowest slow strains (SLOW). When incubated, hatched, housed, managed and fed the same, the categories of strains differed in body weights, growth rates, feed intake and feed efficiency. At 48 days of age, strains in the CONV category were 835-1264 g heavier than strains in the other categories. By TW2, differences in body weights and feed intake resulted in a 22 to 43-point difference in feed conversion ratios. Categories of strains did not differ in their overall mortality rates.